/lit/ - Literature

if your literary focus is to tell a story you've missed the point entirely

>>11291726
If you set out to create a message about the human condition without having a good story to convey it you’re a fucking retard.

>>11291690
it's the cheapest out of them, and you get more cred for it than movies and video games

>>11291690
Because if I write a good book they'll turn it into movie anyway, I don't even have to do that!

>>11291738
>duh hooman cawndishun
Please stop trying to write

>>11291748
That’s true but that can’t be just that. Otherwise we’d have far less amateur filmmakers and more penny dreadfuls

>>11291769
Then please, do enlighten me as all you can do is say “lol i know the truth and you’re dumb” tell me and convince me of your opinion my man. Isn’t knowledge meant to be shared?

>>11291690
Because it's by far the most accessible and cheap one. Only music and drawing come somewhat close but require much more effort.

>>11291810
Accessible for the writer or the audience?

>>11291819
Mostly for the writer but it's rather accessible for the audience too assuming you did your job.

>>11291832
But the average Joe Schmo doesn’t wanna read, he’d rather watch a movie.

>>11291849
Interesting that the hardest medium to make (in a practical sense) is also the easiest to consume.

>>11291849
That's a meme.

>http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/10/19/slightly-fewer-americans-are-reading-print-books-new-survey-finds/

Sure it doesn't look super great but keep in mind that the numbers are from Murika.

>>11291861
Well, the movie is the culmination of several artforms, it is visual, it is auditory and is created from that which is written. It’s a passive experience which you only observe, sit back and kick off your shoes. Most movies aren’t horribly challenging to understand, like Se7en is a fantastic movie but you don’t need to contemplate it too hard.

>>11291861
i find it very hard to concentrate on movies, reading books is definitely easier because you control everything about the process.

>>11291690
You can do the whole thing yourself.

>>11291905
>Most movies aren’t horribly challenging to understand
This applies to most novels too.

>>11291925
I suppose so, think of it I guess as an endurance test, most people can run but they won’t run a marathon. People can read books but they won’t wanna read them to full length. It’s far easier to kill a few hours watching a movie instead, it’s self contained and non-committal, like a one night stand.

>>11291916
this is the biggest one

>>11291982
>>11291916
What about publishers and editors, as it’s hard to distribute books (e-books notwithstanding) and spot your mistakes.

>>11291690
Why not tell it via literature?
Seriously now - different art forms aren't superior to each other in themselves. They simply work with different tools, which will lead every form into a slightly different direction (prose is more likely to be reflective, while films can be more sensual experiences - Sergio Leone's westerns can't be recreated as novels and Ulysses can't be filmed).
Use the form that you're adept in and that is practically viable. You're very unlikely to make a good film if you haven't studied film theory and don't have a decent crew, for example.

>>11291993
sure, but the bulk of the work still comes from a single artist. a single editor is absolutely nothing compared to the amount of hands it takes to make a movie (the other major narrative medium)

>>11291726
what point?
one of literature's great uses is to entertain
another is to instruct
another is to create social change
there are probably others (to confess one's inner feelings, to express the unexpressible... e.g. when writing is one of the means with which to dispose of traumatic life experiences, and more)
most of them are achieved through storytelling, because humans makes sense of their lives by creating narratives to encapsulate different scales of time and experience

storytelling is the practical reality of achieving anything with literature

>>11292020
>the bulk of the work
It's THE work, hands down. Everything else window dressing for words that were already written.

>>11292032
yeah unless you're writing a poem in which case you're retarded, because poetry is gay

>>11292045
i don't want to take too much away from what a good editor can do. it's all anecdotal evidence from interviews with authors, but it sounds to me like a strong editor can be a pretty powerful force between the drafts and the final product

>>11291726

>>11292011
Good post my man. Good post

For the opposite reason vidya is the worst. Cheap, requires one person, no new technology, and can be done exceptionally quickly if required

>>11292126
Don’t forget you can steal assets for your game

>>11292126
video games are the worst right now because most studios are stuck in a mindset that games should be plotted like movies and take many of the same cues. as video games mature the most affecting narratives will probably barely have stated plots at all

>>11291690
>Like why not tell it via others instead?
What kind of question is that?

>>11292011
Literature IS inferior to theatre

>>11291915
I agree but we're are way in the minority with that one.

>>11292274
How does one know to use certain mediums for certain stories?

>>11292310
you write the story for the medium